He's done little enough to keep us out of the mess we're in now, since he voted for the new Department and for the office, but at least Chuck Schumer knows what kind of "big brother" he doesn't have in mind, even though it's too late now to do anything about it.

CHOICE FOR 'BIG BROTHER' IS ALL WRONG, CHUCK SAYS

By KENNETH R. BAZINET
DAILY NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU

WASHINGTON - Sen. Chuck Schumer slammed Iran-Contra figure John Poindexter yesterday as the wrong man to head the Pentagon's new "big brother" program, saying the retired admiral barely escaped jail.
"If we need a big brother, John Poindexter is the last guy on the list that I would choose," said Schumer (D-N.Y.).

He demanded that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld replace Poindexter, who is overseeing a Pentagon anti-terrorism project, Total Information Awareness, charged with developing a vast database allowing unprecedented access to Americans' electronic transactions, from banking business to video rentals.

Poindexter, who was national security adviser under President Ronald Reagan, and Marine Lt. Col. Oliver North were convicted in 1990 of lying to Congress in the weapons-for-hostages scandal. The convictions were overturned on the grounds their right to a fair trial was violated.

The conviction "was overthrown on a technicality that had nothing to do with the facts of whether he lied to Congress," Schumer said yesterday on ABC's "This Week."